Elevator



FIGURE J.

FIGURE 5 INVEN'roR i ATTORNEY April 3, 1928.

C. F. LANE ELEVATOR Filed Dec. 20.

FIGURE E Patented Apr. 3, 11928.

UNITED vSTATES CHARLES F. MNE, orV san Josa, CALIFORNIA.

ELEVATOR.

Application and December 2o, 1926. serial No. 155,922.

This invention relates particularly to that type of elevators used inraising earth, grain, coal or any other similar type of materials anddischarging the same at a given height.

It is one object of the present invention to provide a means whereby theelevator buckets or carriers will be automatically dumped at a givenpoint on their upward journey without the necessity of providing meansfor inverting the said carriers.

It is another object of the invention to provide a structure of thecharacter indicated that will effectually empty each carrier as itpasses a predetermined point in its upward path of travel, and one thatwill be economical to manufacture, simple in construction, and highlyeiicient in its practical application.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the struc, ture.

Figure 2 is a view on line 2 2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a view on line 3 3 of Figure 2.

Referring now more particularly t the drawing, I show at 1 the frontwall of an elevator enclosure, and at 2 2 the side walls thereof, thesaid side walls extendingabove the front wall a distance as shown.

Shafts 3 3 are mounted at the upper and lower ends of the side walls asshown, and on these shafts are mounted two pairs of vertically alignedsprocket wheels as shown at 4 4 4 4:, the said pairs of sprockets beingfitted with chains 5 5. This chain and sprocket mechanism may be drivenin any suitable manner as by a pulley 6 mounted on the lower shaft 3 anddriven by a belt 7 connected with a driving power not shown.

At spaced intervals on the chains 5 5 are mounted buckets or carriers 8,these carriers beingso proportioned as to extend substantially the widthof the front wall 1 and to have their front edges in contact with theinner surface of the wall during the greater portion of their upwardjourney.

At the upper end of the front wall 1 and ou the inner surface thereof,are mounted two vertically extending elements 9 9,.eacl1' element havingau inwardly and upwardly sloping cam surface 10 formed thereon, and ashoulder 11 formed therein to suddenly break the said cam surface. Thisshoulder is formed at the exact point where it is desired to effect thedumping of the several carriers.

Assuming now that the material to be elevated is fed into the lower endof the enclosure, each carrier 8 will take up a load as it circles thelowersprocket 1 and carry the load upwardly as indicated by the arrow.These carriers S are held substantially in contact with the wall 1 asthey travel-up wardly past the idler 12, but when they reach the camsurfaces 10 they are forced away from the wall, bending the chaininwardly and tipping the carriers upwardly somewhat as shown in dottedlilies at 13. When the carrier reaches the shoulder 11 the tension onthe chains 5 snaps it suddenly forward against the bumper 16 and intothe position shown in dotted lines at 14, this action discharging thecontents of the carrier over the upper edge of the front wall 1 onto thechute or whatevermay be provided for its reception. After dischargingthe carrier moves upwardly and over the tops of the elements 9 9 andaround the sprockets again to receive another load.

By means of this construction the contents of each carrier is forciblydischarged therefrom without the necessity of providing any mechanismwhatever for inverting the same. Each carrier is mounted upon the chainsin the simplest manner without the provision of any pivotal or trippingmechanism, other than the means for engaging the edge of the carrier andcausing it to lag behind the side mounted on the carrier chains and thenreleasing it to snap back into its normal position. In the present casethe tension on the chain is sufficient to return the carriers to theirnormal positions, but of course other means may be provided.

It is to be understood, of course, that while I have herein shown anddescribed but one specific embodiment of my invention, changes in form,construct-ion, and method of operation may be made within the scope ofthe appended claims.

I claim:

1. A structure of the character described, comprising a carrier elementand means for rotating the same through a given path of travel, aplurality of spaced carriers open on their outer sides and mounted onsaid carrier element on their inner sides, and means for emptying saidcarriers at a given point in their path of travel, said means comprisinga mea-ns for engaging the discharging side of the said carriers'wherebyto cause the same to lag behind the opposite closed side,

and means for releasing the carriers from said engagement, and means forreturning the carriers to their normal positions.

2. A structure of the character described, comprising an endless chainand means for rotating the same through a given path of travel., aplurality of spaced oarries mounted thereon on one side and extendingoutwardly therefrom and open on their outer sides, a wall positionedadjacent the carriers and means for urging the open sides of thecarriers into Contact therewith7 and a dumping means Comprising a earnsurface formed on the Wall in the path of travel of the car riers andhaving an abrupt termination.

`3. A structure of the character described,

comprising an endless chain and means for rotating the same through agiven path of travel, a plurality of spaced carriers mounted thereon onone side and extending outwardly therefrom and open on their outersides, a wall positioned adjacent the carriers and means for urging theopen sides of the said carriers 'intoV Contact therewith, and a dumpingmeans Comprising a cam surface formed on the Wall in the path of travelof the carriers and having-an abrupt termina tion, and a bumperpositioned in the path of travel of the carriers and immediatelysucceeding the abrupt termination of the cam surface. i u i CHARLES F.LANE.

